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2026/27 Open Access monograph competition – now open!

• Please apply via this by Friday, 26 February 2027.Ìý

Unfunded monograph authors from any University Faculty can enter the Library’s Open Access monograph competition 2026/27, if they are due to publish or published a monograph on or after 1 January 2026.

Winners will receive funding from the Library to make their monographs Open Access and the Library will arrange this directly with the winners’ publishers. Authors publishing trade books should check with their publisher before submitting an application, as Open Access is often not possible for these kinds of titles.

Please note: authors acknowledging UKRI funding in books and book chapters may be eligible for separate Open Access funding.

How to enter

To enter, please provide a short response to the following questions: 

• What is the expected reach of your monograph?  
• What are the benefits of your book being Open Access for your intended audience, and 51¸£ÀûÉç?  
• How does your monograph contribute to research in your field?  
• Given limited resources, are there any other reasons to fund Open Access for your monograph that we should take into account?  

Please submit your answers through this by Friday, 26 February 2027.Ìý

After the closing date, entries will be judged by a representative panel led by Professor James Evans, Vice-Dean for Research and Innovation in the Faculty of Humanities. The Library’s Open Access Team will contact successful applicants in early May 2027.

If you have a question about the competition, please contact the Office for Open Research: openresearch@manchester.ac.uk.

2025/26 Open Access monograph competition winners

Last academic year, we received 31 entries from various Schools across the University covering a diverse range of topics. The entries were considered by Professor James Evans, Vice-Dean for Research and Innovation in the Faculty of Humanities, together with a representative panel, who selected the 4 winning titles.Ìý

The following titles will be published Open Access with costs covered by the University Open Access Fund:

• Rory Horner – The double-edged cure: How India’s pharmaceuticals transformed Africa (Cambridge University Press)
• Yenkong Ngangjoh Hodu - Regional Trade Agreements, Prosperity and the Global South: Normative Beliefs and Interests (Cambridge University Press)
• Fred Schurink - Antiquity Made Present in Reformation England: Classical Translation and the Politics of Counsel, 1530–1580 (Cambridge University Press)
• Karen Lucas - The Mobility Trap: Transport Exclusion in Global South Cities (Policy Press)

Congratulations to all the winning entrants to the competition.

The Open Access monograph competition is made possible through collaboration between the Library’s Office for Open Research and Engagement Team and staff from various Schools across the University.